One Town, One Roundabout and a Design that Celebrates People

Video Tuesday

Now, this is placemaking

Normal, IL’s Uptown Normal Roundabout project won the EPA’s Smart Growth Achievement Award for turning a solution to a traffic dilemma into something much, much, much more value added.

The Uptown Normal Roundabout project solved a complicated intersection, created a public plaza that has fostered economic vitality & increased social capital. In addition, the integrated stormwater system (Hoerrschaudt) naturally filters the runoff from the surrounding streetscapes and reuses it in the form of a water play feature and eventually to irrigate the adjacent landscaping.

This is a Complete Street project. Complete + Green Street = Designed for People

Can you imagine this place with just concrete? Or, even just grass here with no people? It’s just, I mean, it’s boring.”